The Venezuelan Bollito - A Boiled Cornflour Snack

For a typical Venezuelan breakfast, when you are short of time, try boiling your cornflour dough instead of making arepas. The resulting submarine-shaped "bollos" are ready in just 15 minutes. (photo copyright Russell Maddicks)

That white submarine at the back of the plate is a bollo (pronounced: bo-jyo), also known as a bollito (pronounced: bo-jyito).
They are made from the same dough used to make arepas, from pre-cooked corn flour.
Like many Venezuelans I use Harina Pan to make my arepas and bollos.
All you need to do is add water and knead the dough until you can shape it easily and it isn't too dry to form cracks.
Instead of forming the dough into flying saucer shapes and frying or baking your arepas, bollos are roughly shaped into submarines and boiled in water for about 15 minutes. You know they are ready when they float to the surface.
It's a really quick way to get your daily cornbread fix.
For breakfast I like to serve bollitos with perico (eggs scrambled with onions and tomatoes) and grated yellow cheese.
In some places in Venezuela, you find bollo pelon, which are bollos stuffed with minced beef or shredded chicken cooked in a sauce.
In Colombia, the bollo limpio is slightly different as the corn dough submarines are wrapped in a corn husk before being boiled.
In Venezuela this kind of bollo is called an hallaquita.
Just to confuse matters further, in Ecuador and some other Andean countries, there is a very similar corn dish called humita. These are typically made from fresh ground corn which is wrapped in corn husks and steamed, often with cheese mixed into the dough.
The ultimate bollo is the hallaca, a cornmeal-dough pocket stuffed with a host of tasty ingredients, wrapped in a plantain leaf, which is eaten at Christmas.

Related recipes:
How to Make Arepas
How to Make Perico
How to Make Hallacas 

#Venezuelan #food #bollos #hallaquitas #arepas

Recipe: Guasacaca - Venezuela's Tastiest Sauce

(All text Copyright Russell Maddicks)

Guasacaca is probably one of the finest sauces ever invented. It has a cool name that rolls off the tongue and a taste that makes your mouth go ñum ñum!

It's a simple but staggeringly tasty combination of avocado, fresh parsley and coriander, green bell pepper, onion, garlic, salt, oil and vinegar.

And it's quick and easy to make. You just throw the ingredients in the blender and whoozh until you get the consistency you want: thicker for dips, runnier for drizzling on empanadas, arepas and meat.

In Venezuela, guasacaca is eaten with barbecued meat from the parilla - beef, sausage, chicken, and my favourite morcilla (black pudding).

Unlike a lot of US chefs, George knows the difference between Venezuelan guasacaca and Mexican guacamole. He was born in Caracas to Armenian parents, before moving to New York, where he lives today.

The only change I would make to George's excellent recipe is to replace the olive oil with corn oil, to keep it 100 per cent authentic.

If you have a family recipe for guasacaca you want to share just add a comment below.

George Duran's Guasacaca Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 green sweet peppers, seeded, deveined, and roughly chopped
2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded
2 cloves garlic
Half a bunch of fresh parsley leaves
Half a bunch fresh cilantro leaves
A third cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
Pinch of black pepper
1 cup olive oil

Preparation:
Put everything except the olive oil into a food processor and process until mostly smooth. Add the olive oil in a stream with the processor running and process until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour for the flavors to blend. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve sauce at room temperature with meats, fish, or vegetable chips. If made in advance, store, covered, in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Recipe: How to make Venezuelan empanadas

A short video with step-by-step instructions on how to make Venezuelan empanadas from scatch using harina P.A.N. (pre-cooked corn flour).

Simple and quick to make, the half-moon-shaped corn pockets are filled with cheese, shredded beef or chicken, minced beef and even cheese and black beans (called a domino) and then fried.

Easily the most popular snacks in Venezuela, they are eaten as a quick bite for breakfast, a snack between meals or to soak up the beers at the beach. 

At the seaside they are often made with seafood, such as cazon (baby shark) or chipi-chipis (baby clams).

The most filling empanada I ever had was known as the pabellon criollo, a full-blown meal of shredded beef, black beans and  fried plantains stuffed into a larger than usual deep fried corn pocket. One was enough!

This is my first instructional video and I owe a great debt of gratitude to Jorge Franca (who edited the clips and added the soundtrack) and, of course, mi bella asistente Yadira.

Please let me know what you think.

Recipe: Cachapas - Tasty Venezuelan corn pancakes

Cachapas are thick, tasty pancakes made from maize (sweetcorn) and served with a slab of white cheese at street stalls all over Venezuela.

The usual way to make them is to grind the maize kernels through a special machine, which gives the cachapa mixture just the right consistency, and then cook them on a flat griddle plate.

Anybody living outside Venezuela should try this easy to follow recipe by Jorge Franca, which adds an egg and plain flour to the maize and cleverly replaces queso de mano (a soft white Venezuelan cheese) with Mozarella.

Cachapas are an integral part of Venezuela's culinary history and their origin dates back to pre-Colombian times, when the indigenous population would grind corn with stone pestles and then cook it cachapa-style on clay budares, flat griddle plates that have been found in archaeological digs at many sites in Venezuela.

This sweet and savoury treat is best served with cheese, either a white cheese like Mozarrella or even a grated yellow cheese like cheddar.

The most exotic cachapa I've ever had was at a tiny roadside stall with a tin-roof in the Gran Sabana. The owner was selling "cachapa con cochino" and the steaming maize cachapas were topped with lashings of margarine, a thick slab of cheese, a pork chop and some chicharron, or fried pork rinds. Washed down with a cold Polarcita, it was like cachapa heaven.

Guasacaca - Venezuela's tastiest sauce

Guasacaca is probably one of the finest sauces ever invented. It has a cool name that rolls off the tongue and a taste that makes your mouth go ñum ñum!

It's a simple but staggeringly tasty combination of avocado, fresh parsley and coriander, green bell pepper, onion, garlic, salt, oil and vinegar.

And it's quick and easy to make. You just throw the ingredients in the blender and whoozh until you get the consistency you want: thicker for dips, runnier for drizzling on empanadas and meat.

In Venezuela, guasacaca is eaten with barbecued meat from the parilla - beef, sausage, chicken, and my favourite morcilla (black pudding).

Unlike a lot of US chefs, George knows the difference between Venezuelan guasacaca and Mexican guacamole. He was born in Caracas to Armenian parents, before moving to New York, where he lives today.

The only change I would make to George's excellent recipe is to replace the olive oil with corn oil, to keep it 100 per cent authentic.

If you have a family recipe for guasacaca you want to share just add a comment below.

George Duran's Guasacaca Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 green sweet peppers, seeded, deveined, and roughly chopped
2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded
2 cloves garlic
Half a bunch of fresh parsley leaves
Half a bunch fresh cilantro leaves
A third cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
Pinch of black pepper
1 cup olive oil

Preparation:
Put everything except the olive oil into a food processor and process until mostly smooth. Add the olive oil in a stream with the processor running and process until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour for the flavors to blend. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve sauce at room temperature with meats, fish, or vegetable chips. If made in advance, store, covered, in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Rum cocktails - El Ritual

When it comes to rum cocktails, most people who like the occasional umbrella in their drink have tried a Cuban Mojito, a Strawberry Daiquiri or a Pina Colada, but how many people have tried Venezuela's wild and wonderful rum concoction El Ritual?

Closer to a Tequila slammer than a true cocktail El Ritual, as its name suggests, is not about mixing interesting flavours in a glass, but creating an event, performing a set of steps that allow you to mix the raw flavours in your mouth for a full-on explosion of taste bud-tingling tropical nonsense.

And you don't need to be a barman to make it. Trust me.

The first ingredient - and there's no point starting without this - is a shot-glass-sized-helping of aged Venezuelan rum.

Quality sipping rums like Pampero Aniversario, Cacique 500 or Santa Teresa 1796 are excellent for this, because they have the most complex flavours.

But don't be put off, any dark Venezuelan rum will do.

Second, you need a few limes cut into wedges.

Third, you pour brown sugar and instant coffee into two separate piles on a dish or tray.

Then all you do is take a lime wedge, dip one side into the sugar, the other into the coffee and bite and suck on it.

Immediately the bitterness of the coffee and the sweetness of the sugar will fill your mouth and threaten to overwhelm your tastebuds. But don't panic. Help is at hand.

Take the glass of rum and have a swig. You don't need to down it one just take enough rum into your mouth to let all the flavours mingle.

A second swig from the glass will bring in new flavours, as the rich warm buttery taste of the rum replaces the slight bitterness of the coffee and the shallow sweetness of the sugar.

When you've finished just lick your lips, get back in line and have another one.

It sounds like an unlikely combination, I know, but somehow it works.

And it's like rocket fuel at parties. Apart from the alcohol in the rum, the coffee and sugar work well together to lift the energy of a flagging get together or dinner. Serve a couple of rounds of El Ritual just before the salsa tunes kick in and strictly dance floor mayhem is sure to ensue.

There are no excuses for not experimenting with Venezuelan rums in the UK, Waitrose supermarkets currently stock a good aged rum from Santa Teresa called "Gran Reserva" and I've seen Pampero "Gold" on sale in bars, so it must be on sale somewhere (let me know if you find out where).

In Italy, El Ritual is a key element in Pampero's publicity campaign, which went out with the rather odd slogan: "Il rum piu bevuto nei peggiori bar di Caracas" ("The rum most drunk in the worst bar in Caracas".)

The TV ad (watch it below)shows a motley bunch of drinkers downing shots of Pampero Aniversario with lime, sugar and coffee as they watch a boxing match.

Given the usual parade of beautiful people with perfect smiles, gym bodies and silicone enhancements who populate drink ads in Venezuela, some Venezuelans took offence at the image of Caracas depicted in the ad - with its less-than-glamorous drinkers tottering about in a dive bar - but it was a big hit with the Italians and helped establish Pampero as a major player in the Italian rum market.

So try something new. Give El Ritual a go and let me know if it works for you.

Venezuelan Rum - Ho Ho Ho!

Sorry for not posting for a while but I was travelling in Venezuela for work. I'm currently researching material for an update to the "Bradt Guide to Venezuela", a travel guide in English which will come out next year.
It's a lot of work but I'm loving the opportunity to criss-cross the country, catch up with old friends, make new friends and have some adventures.
I'm hoping this impressive shelf of Venezuelan rums, aquired on my last trip, will inspire me to come up with some recipes for exciting rum cocktails, although Venezuelan rum is so smooth it's good enough to sip neat or over ice.

Venezuelan Rum Cocktail Recipe: El Ritual

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Venezuelan Shredded Beef

Shredded beef is a key dish in Latin American cooking, from Cuba's rather unappetizingly named but utterly delicious "ropa vieja" ("old clothes") to Venezuela's national dish Pabellon Criollo, where the beef is typically accompanied by white rice, black beans and slices of fried plantain.

It is also used as a filling for empanadas and arepas.

The name shredded or pulled beef comes from the long strands you get when you pull the boiled meat apart.

In Spanish mechar or desmechar mean literally to separate hair into strands or to pull your hair out in fury.

Hopefully, this recipe is simple enough to avoid any hair pulling and tasty enough to justify the time it takes to boil, shred and fry the meat.

The secret to this dish is in the beef and the best cut to buy is skirt - known as flank in the USA - which will give you the right kind of strands.

I usually boil and shred the beef the day before I make my carne mechada and then leave it overnight in the fridge.

Shredding is easy and can be done with a knife, or two forks or your hands, whatever you find easiest.

The strands do not have to be uniform in size and you can experiment with different thicknesses of strands until you get the consistency you want.

Make sure you keep the water used to boil the meat as it will add extra flavour to the final sauce, which is made in typical Venezuelan style, with a sofrito of onions, bell peppers and garlic that the meat and tomatoes are then added to.

If you are serving as a meal with rice and beans the final simmer should leave some liquid in the sauce but if you want to fill empanadas with your carne mechada, boil until it is nearly dry, stirring regularly to avoid sticking or burning.


Ingredients
For enough carne mechada to serve 4 people you will need:
Half a kilo of beef skirt
1 small onion
Half a red pepper
3 cloves of garlic
Worcestershire sauce (salsa inglesa)
Salt
Black pepper
A pinch of cumin
Two spoons of tomato puree
Olive oil

Preparation

Boil the Beef

1. Place the beef in a large saucepan with enough water to cover it.

2. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

3. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

4. Set aside the water.

5. Shred the beef into strands with a knife or two forks until all the beef is shredded.

Make the Sofrito

6. Chop and dice the onion and bell pepper.

7. Crush garlic in pestle and mortar or in garlic crusher.

8. Heat two spoons of olive oil in a large frying pan.

9. Add onions and when they start to brown add the garlic and the bell peppers, a pinch of salt, some black pepper and a pinch of cumin.

10. Add the shredded beef and stir, allow to brown a little.

11. Add some of the water the beef was boiled in, tomato puree and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

12. Stir frequently as you bring to the boil and then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

13. Serve with rice and beans.

Buen provecho! as they say in Venezuela. Enjoy your meal.

By Russell Maddicks

Recipe: Caraotas Negras - Venezuelan Black Beans

Recipe: How to make Cachapas - Venezuelan corn pancakes

Recipe: How to Make Arepas

Pabellon Criollo - Venezuela's National Dish

Glossary: Eating at an Arepera

Arepa and Co: The only Venezuelan food outlet in the UK

Recipe: How to Make Arepas

Arepas are cornmeal patties that are eaten in place of bread in Venezuela. They are quick to make, healthy and can be eaten at any time of the day. At breakfast, they can be served steaming hot from the oven with a slather of butter, or filled with cheese, ham or perico, Venezuelan-style scrambled eggs. During the day, they make the perfect snack and are sold in fast-food outlets called areperas, with fillings like grated cheese, black beans, chicken salad and avocado, or shredded beef.

The secret to cooking arepas is Harina P.A.N., the first and most popular brand of pre-cooked maize flour. It was developed by a Venezuelan engineer called Dr Caballero Mejias in 1954 and revolutionized Venezuelan cooking when it was introduced by the beer company Polar in 1960.

Harina P.A.N. makes the whole process of preparing maize dough quick and easy and is a far cry from the traditional method of laboriously soaking, peeling and then pounding corn kernels in a large wooden mortar called a pilon, which is still practised in many parts of Venezuela today.

The original slogan for Harina P.A.N. was "Se acabo la piladera" ("No more pounding").

The great thing about Harina P.A.N. in our health-conscious world is that maize flour is easily digested, contains no additives or bleaching agents and is 100 per cent gluten-free.

It comes in two varieties, yellow or white, and can be used to make arepas, as well as savoury patties called empanadas, and hallacas - a traditional Christmas dish.

Once the maize dough has been prepared and the arepas made into a distinctive flying saucer shape, they can be baked, fried, cooked on a charcoal grill or boiled.

How to Bake Arepas

To make enough dough for six arepas you will need:

Ingredients
2 cups of Harina P.A.N. flour
2 cups of water
A pinch of salt

Preparation

1. Place two cups of flour in a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt and mix through with clean dry hands.

2. Measure two cups of warm water and pour onto flour.

3. Knead together the flour and water with your hands until the mixture is thoroughly blended and there are no grainy lumps.

4. If the is too soggy and sticks to your fingers add more flour. If it is too dry add water. The perfect dough should roll easily into a large ball without cracking.

5. Break off a fistful of the dough and roll it into a ball in your hands. Then pat it and turn it in your hands until its about half an inch thick and about 3-4 inches across. It should have the classic flying saucer shape now.

6. Make the rest of the arepas you want to cook. If any dough is left over wrap it in plastic - to keep in the moisture - and place in fridge. It will keep for three to four days.

7. Heat a little oil in a heavy frying pan or griddle and when hot add the arepas, as many as will comfortably fit in the pan. The idea is to give the arepas a crunchy exterior ("una cara", literally a face, as they say in Venezuela) so don't turn the heat up too high. When the arepas are brown on one side turn them over. The whole process should not take longer than 10 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

9. When arepas have been browned, reduce oven to 200 degrees, place arepas on a baking tray at the top of the oven for 15-20 minutes. When ready they should sound hollow when tapped with a knife.

10. Serve with butter and grated cheese, scrambled eggs, black beans, ham, hot sauce and anything else you want to fill them with. The trick is to make an incision in the arepa - slicing through the middle but not going all the way - and then open it up like a pocket for the filling.

By Russell Maddicks

Buying Harina Pan in the UK

Recipe: How to make Cachapas - Venezuelan corn pancakes


Arepa and Co: Venezuelan arepera in London

Glossary: Eating at an Arepera

La Reina Pepiada: The Curvy Queen of Arepas

Arepa de Maiz Pelao: Making Arepas the Hard Way

Recipe: Caraotas Negras - Venezuelan Black Beans

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Venezuelan Shredded Beef

Pabellon Criollo - Venezuela's National Dish

Recipe: Caraotas Negras - Venezuelan Black Beans

Tasty, cheap and nutritious, black beans are as emblematic of Venezuela as the colours of the flag - and they're good for you.

And while other Latin American countries might refer to their beans as frijoles, porotos, judias or habichuelas, in Venezuela they are always caraotas.

In England they are often sold as Turtle Beans, a name which comes from the Caribbean and is said to be inspired by their hard shiny shells.

They can be served as a soup, as a side order with a main meal, or refried and used as filling for empanadas and arepas.

They are also the only ingredient in the national dish Pabellon Criollo that is truly indigenous to the Americas, because rice is originally from India, plantains were brought to Venezuela from Africa and the beef comes from European cows.

But you don't need to stick to Venezuelan recipes. Once cooked, black beans can be used instead of kidney beans to give a creamier flavour to Chili con Carne or thrown cold into salads for colour, texture and added protein.

Black beans are incredibly healthy, with a high fibre and protein content.

Recent scientific research has proved that black beans are a Super Food - loaded with high levels of antioxidants, special molecules that help the body to fight heart disease, cancer and ageing.

Because of the dark pigments in their skins, black beans have 10 times more antioxidants than oranges, for example, and significantly more than grapes, apples and cranberries.

However, like all other members of the common bean family (Phaseolus vulgaris) black beans contain a compound called lectin that must be neutralized by soaking the beans overnight, changing the water and then boiling them vigorously for 10-15 minutes before simmering. Never cook dry beans in a slow cooker or you'll have a nasty bellyache.

And don't worry about that other effect from eating beans; flatulence. Nobody need blame the dog if you add a pinch of bicabonate to your beans while soaking.

The good news is: black beans are delicious, cooking them is simple, the ingredients are available at all good supermarkets and you can adapt the dish for vegetarians by leaving out the pork.

This recipe is for a basic black bean soup. To make the soup creamier simply put half of it in the blender and liquidize before reheating. To garnish, add a dollop of creme fraiche or natural yoghurt, with a few chopped coriander leaves on top for decoration.

For an authentic Venezuelan touch sprinkle with grated cheese. Some Venezuelans like to sprinkle two or three teaspoons of sugar over their beans but I never got used to eating them sweet.

If you want to serve the beans with rice or as a side dish to accompany fried yuca (cassava) you can simmer the beans to reduce the liquid. Don't boil the beans when reheating as you will spoil the flavour.

Black bean soup will keep in the fridge for four days or can be kept frozen for a month.

Ingredients:
To serve 5-6 people you will need:
200 grams dried black beans
Pinch of bicarbonate of soda
Pancetta or bacon rashers
1 onion
1 green pepper
2 cloves of garlic
Fresh coriander
Olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
Oregano
Cumin
Worcestershire sauce (Salsa Inglesa)

1. Place the beans in a large saucepan or bowl. Cover with tap water leaving at least an inch of water above the beans as they will swell. Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. Leave overnight.

2. Before cooking, drain and rinse beans under the tap. Place in saucepan or pressure cooker and cover with fresh water. Bring to boil and boil vigorously for 10-15 minutes. Add no salt.

3. Reduce heat and simmer until soft - 60 minutes (minimum) in saucepan, 45 minutes in pressure cooker.

4. To make the sofrito used to flavour the beans finely chop onions and peppers.

5. Dice pork into small cubes.

6. Crush garlic cloves in mortar or garlic crusher.

7. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onions and when they start to brown add pork and peppers and garlic.

6. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, a small pinch of cumin and Worcestershire sauce and when all ingredients are cooked remove from heat.

7. When beans are cooked place some of the water and beans in a blender, add the cooked sofrito and blend until creamy. Pour back into beans and simmer to reduce and allow flavours to combine.

8. Finely chop coriandor and add to beans just before serving, stir through.

9. Serve.

By Russell Maddicks

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Shredded Beef

Recipe: How to make Cachapas - Venezuelan corn pancakes

Pabellon Criollo - Venezuela's National Dish

Recipe: How to Make Arepas

Glossary: Eating at an Arepera

Arepa and Co: The only Venezuelan food outlet in the UK

Buying Harina Pan in the UK

La Reina Pepiada: The Curvy Queen of Arepas

Arepa de Maiz Pelao: Making Arepas the Hard Way

Pabellon Criollo - Venezuela's National Dish

Pabellon Criollo is not only Venezuela's national dish, it's also emblematic of the country; a hearty plate of simple food that mirrors the national flag and highlights the special mix of races that has made Venezuela a country of beauty queens.

A delicious combination of carne mechada (shredded beef), arroz blanco (white rice), caraotas negras (black beans) and tajadas (fried plantains), there are few places in Venezuela that you won't be able to find pabellon on the menu.

Look for the menu del dia or the menu ejecutivo, the cheap lunch options offered at many places, which generally include a soup as a starter, a fruit juice and sometimes a dessert.

Even in the humblest of luncherias pabellon should be accompanied with arepas, the cornmeal staples that Venezuelans eat in place of bread or rolls.

If you're really lucky your pabellon will arrive with a generous helping of salty white cheese grated over the black beans, or a slice of avocado on the side.

For a fried egg on top of the beef ask the waiter for your pabellon "a caballo" ("on horseback").

If you want to be really Venezuelan about it, you might want to follow local custom and stir a couple of teaspoons of sugar into the beans.

But the secret of any great pabellon is in the sofrito, the combination of onions, sweet peppers, bell peppers and adobo (seasoning) that the beef is cooked in, especially the amount of cumin used.

Along the coast, in Choroni, or in Margarita, the shredded beef is often replaced with cazon, or baby shark.

The most exotic version of the pabellon is served during the Catholic fasting period of Lent when you may find chiguire meat in place of the beef.

The chiguire is a large guinea-pig like rodent, better known outside Venezuela as a capybara. These giant rats may not look very appetizing, but they hold a special place in the cuisine of the Llanos, the seasonally-flooded plains populated by horse-riding cowboys.

Somewhat bizarrely, in the 17th century the local creoles were able to get the capybara classified as a fish by the Catholic Church, although it probably helped that nobody in Rome had ever seen one before.

It's certainly the oddest fish I've ever seen.

The closest translation of the name Pabellon Criollo is "Creole Flag," a clue to the patriotic significance that it holds for some Venezuelans, who see the yellow, red, blue and white of the national flag in the colours of the ingredients.

Other commentators see in it a reflection of Venezuela's racial mix: the indigenous Amerindians, Spanish conquistadors and African slaves who went into the country's melting pot.

More importantly for the traveller, pabellon is a healthy, filling lunch option that won't stretch the budget, although it might stretch the seams of your jeans if you overdo it.

By Russell Maddicks

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Shredded Beef

Recipe: Caraotas Negras - Venezuelan Black Beans

Recipe: Carne Mechada - Venezuelan Shredded Beef

Recipe: How to Make Arepas

Arepa and Co: The only Venezuelan food outlet in the UK

Glossary: Eating at an Arepera